It was the Summer of 2010, in between school years, and I was in my little Nissan Versa passing by Lebanon, Indiana, on Interstate 65 just North of Indianapolis on my return trip to the Pontifical Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. I had been up to Mundelein in Chicago for some pointers on the Extraordinary Form, which I was to introduce into the curriculum at the Josephinum. Otherwise alone in the car, I asked my guardian angel, as was my constant practice for some years (to my great shame), to teach me to have the same reverence he has before God, since he sees God in the face (see Matthew 18:10) and I manifestly do not. It’s a matter of justice, I thought. After all, this guardian angel was assigned to get me to heaven. But he was finally fed up with my out-of-place request, and he reprimanded me with a manifestation of the truth clearer than words could ever be. He said, so to speak:

“I am an angel. You are not an angel. I have my own reverence before God which you will never have, as I am an angel and you are not. I see the Most Holy Trinity in the face as an angel, but you are to see God in a way that I can never see Him. You are a man and I am not. You are to see God through, with and in Jesus, as a member of His Body, He seeing the Father now for you. I will never have the same kind of reverence before God as you are to have, for you are a man and I am not.

Angels are like that, full of incisive irony, aggressively humble, full of charity, it being all about Jesus. I mention this as an introduction to Saint Michael since he is patron of justice inasmuch as he assists us in coming to have the reverence we are to have before our Heavenly Father through, with and in Jesus. It is quite demonic and in the spirit of the anti-Christ to deny the Incarnation of the Divine Son of the Immaculate Conception, something I was effectively doing by insisting on wanting to have the self-same reverence before God as do the angels. Saint Michael does battle with Satan until we come to realize that it’s all about Jesus, for Jesus is God. Now I just ask my guardian angel to teach me the kind of reverence I am to have before God even if this is different from the reverence he has before God. In all of this, recall that in Hebrew the name Michael means “Who is like God.” But let’s begin at the beginning, back in the Garden of Eden, where this battle between Michael and Satan, the battle between justice and injustice has its start.

When Adam and his wife were created by God, they were formed to be like God, God’s image and likeness (see Genesis 1:26-27). In this sense, Adam and his wife were non-divine gods reflecting God, being God’s co-workers in creation, taking the material universe up in themselves and laying it down in reverence before God, representing in themselves all that is outside of God, all of creation. They were like God. They were non-divine gods but nevertheless more godly than any god of any pantheon in the ancient mythologies of the Middle-East.

You’ll remember that Satan’s clever temptation involved Adam and his wife becoming like gods. And, indeed, this was a deception, however true it was, for they who were gods (see John 10:35; Psalm 82:6; “YHWH Elohim” = “He who causes them to be gods”) would become merely like gods, and so therefore hardly like God Himself anymore. It was Satan, before he fell, who was merely like a god – being of assistance, as he was, to Adam and his wife – and was now far from what he should be as well, even less than merely like a god. While God knows goodness and therefore also in contrast that which is less than good, that is, evil, Adam and his wife after the fall would know good only as lessened by evil. They would not know the pristine goodness of charity, but would be controlled by the temptation of an egotistic “what’s in it for me?” attitude, so dark, self-absorbed, self-referential, self-congratulatory. They would thus make idols of themselves, merely farcical gods before whom they become seemingly irretrievably cynical: they are like unto themselves, and not even that.

But then our Lord offers the gift of Himself, saying that He Himself will place enmity over against Satan between us and Satan. Enter Saint Michael, who is like God Himself, who is to do battle for us against Satan by assisting us in our reverence before God, helping us to be formed into the image of Jesus, and thus like God once again. Since Saint Padre Pio is the patron of Father MacRae, and since we just celebrated his feast (23 September, the day Father MacRae was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned 23 years ago) let me take the event of Padre Pio’s reception of the stigmata as an example. Pio wrote about this to his spiritual director (now in the office of readings for the Liturgy of the Hours). The fiery sword referenced here is that of the conclusion of the Proto-Evangelium in Genesis 3:24, a sword of ardent charity which transforms those presented to it into the likeness of God once again.

“I was suddenly terrorized by the sight of a celestial person who presented himself to my mind’s eye. He had in his hand a sort of weapon like a very long sharp-pointed steel blade which seemed to emit fire. At the very instant that I saw all this, I saw that person hurl the weapon into my soul with all his might. I cried out with difficulty and felt I was dying. […] I cannot tell you how much I suffered during this period of anguish. Even my entrails were torn and ruptured by the weapon, and nothing was spared. From that day on I have been mortally wounded. [Two weeks later…] in the choir, after I had celebrated Mass I yielded to a drowsiness […]. Absolute silence surrounded and invaded me. I was suddenly filled with great peace and abandonment which effaced everything else and caused a lull in the turmoil. All this happened in a flash. While this was taking place I saw before me a mysterious person [Jesus] similar to the one I had seen on the evening of August 5th [Pio later names him as Saint Michael]. The only difference was that his hands and feet and side were dripping blood. [Saint Michael, who is like God, is also like Jesus, who is God, but does not, cannot bear Jesus’ wounds.] This sight terrified me and what I felt at that moment is indescribable. I thought I should die and really should have died if the Lord had not intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest. The vision disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were dripping blood. Imagine the agony I experienced and continue to experience almost every day. The heart wound bleeds continually, especially from Thursday evening until Saturday. […] The person of whom I spoke in a previous letter is none other than the one I mentioned having seen on August 5th [Saint Michael]. He continues his work incessantly, causing me extreme spiritual agony. There is a continual rumbling within me like the gushing of blood. […]”

And so this priest was transformed to be like Jesus, who is the image of God. And this is justice. Jesus came to make us members of the Body of Christ, He the head, we the members. As the Master, so the disciple. Jesus became like us in all things but sin, standing in our stead, taking on the death we deserve because of sin, becoming sin for us on the cross as Saint Paul says so succinctly (see 2 Corinthians 5:21), He doing this so that we could once again by made like God. Saint Paul bore such wounds as did Francis of Assisi. If our angels assist us in becoming members of the body of Christ, they do so for the sake of justice. Because our salvation is the work of Jesus, of God, justice demands our transformation to be like God, so that through Jesus, with Him and in Him, by the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor might be given to the Father for ever and ever.

When Satan and his anti-Christ deny to the utmost the incarnation of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity (see 1 John 2:22, 4:2-3; 2 John 1:7), when they deny that the Immaculate Virgin Mary is Mother of God, that is when Saint Michael takes up arms to destroy the power of Satan. A sign that Satan and his anti-Christ are at work is when Jesus’ own priests are not provided the mercy of justice, which is due process. When priests pronounce the words of the consecrations at Mass in the first person singular they are not only like God, they act in the very Person of Jesus – This is my Body given for you in sacrifice, my Blood poured out for you in sacrifice – so that a purposed lack of due process for priests, a purposed lack of justice for priests – you know, to save thirty pieces of silver in litigation, is a blasphemy against the Incarnation of Jesus, against the Body and Blood of Christ coming to our altars. Where is Satan to be found, where the anti-Christ? Wherever priests are wrongfully convicted and wrongfully imprisoned. And Saint Michael is to be found transforming those priests into images of Jesus that they may once again be like God, possibly even with the wounds. They already know the humiliations.

Saint John Paul II requested that we ask for the help of Saint Michael:

May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians, “Draw strength from the Lord and from his mighty power” (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St Michael throughout the Church. “Saint Michael the Archangel defend us in battle, be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.” Although today this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it, and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world. (Pope John Paul II, Regina Caeli, 24 April 1994).

When John Paul mentioned that “this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass,” this is not a rubric he cites, but it is instead a lament. After the final blessing and dismissal, the Saint Michael prayer may of course be recited as we do after weekday and weekend Masses in my parish:

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against
the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

On a personal note, and on behalf of all priests everywhere, I thank Father MacRae for being faithful to his priestly vocation where he is, fulfilling in his own body the suffering that is lacking to these members of the Body of Christ (see Colossians 1:24).

Editor’s Note: Father Byers was filling in for Father MacRae when he was busy publishing an important article on SperoNews: “The ‘Shawshank Redemption’ and its real-world version.” It’s an important article for the concept of restorative justice and is complementary to this article on These Stone Walls.

About Fr. Gordon J. MacRae

The late Cardinal Avery Dulles and The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus encouraged Father MacRae to write. Cardinal Dulles wrote in 2005: “Someday your story and that of your fellow sufferers will come to light and will be instrumental in a reform. Your writing, which is clear, eloquent, and spiritually sound will be a monument to your trials.” READ MORE

Comments

This for sure, this is a wonderful confirmation of our guardians..the ones who protect us, invisibly.

I wish the days of praying the Prayer to St Michael, would come back, after Mass.
There was far less evil in the world, back then. It probably would be wise to re-start this plea of protection, again.

I pray this prayer daily, for myself, my family, my loved ones……..Father Gordon, Father George, Max. In these horrific days, I don’t think it wise to go about a daily routine without asking for protection. Sin abounds…but with the help of our angels…. grace abounds more!

Thank you, Father George, for your support and friendship of Father Gordon. Who could possibly need support more than he, now?

I’ve learned of the following prayer, for priests, and would like to share it. I pray this every day… for Father Gordon (and YOU, Father George)…and all priests that I have come to know in the Lord:

“O glorious Archangel, St. Raphael, great Prince of the heavenly court, illustrious for thy gifts of wisdom and grace, guide of those who journey by land or sea, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners; I beg You to assist Your Holy Priests in all their needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. And because You are the medicine of God, I humbly pray You to heal the many infirmities of their souls, and the ills which afflict their bodies, if it be for their greater good. I especially ask of You; an angelic purity which may fit them to be the
temples of the Holy Spirit. Amen”.

Thank you Helen for your comment. Interestingly, today during my rosary, praying the Sorrowful Mysteries(Friday), I was lamenting about sin – in my life, and in the world. What also came to me, and which was comforting was (St. Paul’s saying?)-‘Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more’. This is a fact (according to St. Paul, who is a key person in revealing TRUTH). As such, I will pray also, that we are able to ‘see’ and tap into that grace. I think our guardian angels will be able to guide us on how to do that.

I also have a prayer time dedicated only for priests. I will include your prayer to St. Raphael during that time. Thank you for providing the prayer for Our Lord’s beloved priests.

I can’t thank Fr. George enough for filling in for me as a guest writer this week. I was asked to write a feature article for an upcoming issue of a very well-known Catholic magazine (TBA), and I had a deadline of September 28. So when I told Fr. George about this I hoped he might volunteer. Over the telephone I dropped several hints but it was only when I said that the topic I wanted for a guest post was about St. Michael the Archangel that Fr. George raised his hand. Of course, people forget that on the other end of the phone line I can’t see someone raising his hand. Anyway the debt I owed him is bigger than just this post. When TSW was first beginning, and Fr. George was writing for Holy Souls Hermitage, someone sent me one of his posts that ended with a magnificent photo of St. Michael the Archangel in St. Peter’s Basilica. I knew then and there that I would have to add this defender of justice to the pages of These Stone Walls and to the walls of my prison cell where he remains still. Thank you for doing us the honor of reading and sharing this post. With blessings, Father Gordon MacRae.

I’ve been in the parish for three years now. The neighbors may be selling the property on which the hermitage is situated. If Catholic hunters buy its maybe they will let me visit the Hermitage on a “day off. “

For at least the past 2 years, in my parish, Sts. Peter & Paul in Mississauga, Ontario, we have been reciting the St. Michael prayer after all Sunday and daily Masses. I also give this prayer to the confirmation students, whom I help to prepare for the sacrament. These classes are in addition to what is supposed to be religious education, in the “pretend” Catholic schools. A priest once told me that it is a prayer of minor exorcism.

I am always surprised when I hear of friends in different parishes, whose parish priests simply refuse to allow the congregation to recite this prayer. After all, the Mass is over, what can their objection possibly be? The parishioners pay all the bills after all!

I remember growing up in Ireland, that this prayer was ALWAYS recited after Mass. So much simply went by the wayside after the Second Vatican Council, in the “spirit ” of Vatican II, and we all know what that spirit was.

With the recent erection of a replica of the archway to the Temple of Baal in New York city, a few days ago, I think it is fairly obvious that, ” the walls have been breached.”

This is a wonderful article Fr. Byers, and I thank you for it. In this Year of Mercy, I pray that justice will be done to Fr. Gordon , Pornchai, Chen and all the inmates at the prison.

This may seem like a silly question and I apologise if it is but since Saint John-Paul urged people to recite the prayer to St Michael, why did he not reinstate it after the Novus Ordo Mass? As Pope did he not have the power to do so?

My late husband took the name of Michael at his Confirmation and we chose the name of Michael for our eldest son at his Baptism. (He is now half way through doing the Camino to Santiago de Compostela on his bike contemplating his future after being made redundant!)

Father Gordon and I were just talking about that. This is the reference I found. While he doesn’t demand it be recited, he laments that it is not. It can absolutely be said after Mass as it is, after all, after Mass, and any prayer can be offered. Actually, I think he mentioned this a number of times.

The J.S. Palluch Missalette includes it as one of the prayers after Communion. That would be a nice thing to mention to a priest who might be thinking nobody knows the prayer if he has this Missalette in his parish.

I’ve been in the parish for three years now. The neighbors may be selling the property on which the hermitage is situated. If Catholic hunters buy it maybe they will let me visit the Hermitage on a “day off”.

We recite it at the end of the rosary that we say before Mass every day after the Hail Holy Queen. Since I got to lead the Rosary today on the feast day I made sure we included another prayer to Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael to pray for us.
I have another question…..why isn’t the rebellion of Satan considered the first sin rather than Adam and Eve?
So glad we have you Fr. George.You are kind of like an angel for Fr. Gordon and us!
Prayers and love to all, Jeannie Diemer

Satan did sin first, but he is not human, and therefore it is not what we call original sin, by which weakness and death entered the world. We have that from Adam, who changed the one breath of life to the breath of death. But Jesus gets us back!